Some creatures in the animal kingdom adapt when there’s little food around, but this little guy, a nematode named Allodiplogaster sudhausi, gets mean. Researchers found that when its usual diet is disrupted and it’s forced to eat fungus, it actually transforms and grows a large mouth before becoming a cannibal.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Some creatures in the animal kingdom
00:05 adapt when there's little food around.
00:07 But this little guy, a nematode named Oludiplegastrus odousi,
00:11 gets mean.
00:12 Researchers found that when its usual diet is disrupted
00:14 and it's forced to eat fungus, it actually transforms
00:17 and grows a large mouth.
00:18 It will then start feasting carnivorously,
00:20 eating all other worms around, even
00:22 if those wiggly creatures are members of its own species.
00:25 The joint research team of biologists
00:27 from all over the world believe this giant mouth growth
00:29 is a stress reaction, meaning it's literally
00:32 stress-eating its own friends.
00:33 They're calling the newest transformation the Pterostomatos
00:36 morph, named after the Greek word for monster.
00:38 Researchers also conducted genetic analysis
00:41 on the little worms, finding that hidden
00:43 within the creature's DNA, they have an entirely separate copy
00:46 of its genome.
00:47 This is what's known as whole genome duplication,
00:49 and it allows the creatures who possess it
00:51 to transform their bodies when the need arises.
00:53 It all stems from a necessity to adapt.
00:55 And their developmental plasticity,
00:57 i.e. growing a giant mouth and eating its friends,
00:59 is all part of that, with the researchers writing, quote,
01:02 "In summary, the discovery of an additional mouth morph
01:05 associated with cannibalistic behavior
01:07 supports the importance of developmental plasticity
01:10 as a major driver of morphological and behavioral
01:13 diversification."
01:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:18 (upbeat music)